Heel construction



vSptr 26,1944, B. RYDER 2,359,001

l CONSTRUCTION Fuga oet. 15, 1940 i /NVE/vroR 43 BA wie@ FY05@ Hf%cf Fosme g HA kms Patented Sept. 26, 1944 A UNITED vSTAT Es PmralsirA oFFlcE 2Claims.

In womens shoes it has long been conventional to employ wooden heelswhich are coveredor surfaced in a variety of manners. Such heels areexpensive because of the material employed, the complexity of themachinery required to form them in the desired shapes, and the necessityfor skilled Workmen to operate such machinery. It is an` object of myinvention to provide a heel construction of inexpensive materials and amethod of forming this construction which requires neither intricatemachinery nor skilled workmen.

Solid wooden heels contribute much undesired weight to Womens shoes. Itis an object of my invention to minimize the weight of the heelconstruction for womens shoes and more partcularly to materially reducethe weight below that of conventional shoes by constructing the heel inthe form of a hollow body.

It is the practice of most shoe manufacturers to purchase the woodenheels for womens footwear from others specializing in their production,thus requiring the manufacturer to maintain on hand substantial stocksof wooden heels of different styles, heights, and sizes tomeet'rfluctuations in the demand for shoes of his manufacture. It is anobject of my invention to provide a method of constructing heels forfootwear which can be quickly performed by unskilled workmen in a smallarea of plant space and which thus eliminates the necessity of themaintenance of large stocks of preformed heels and reduces the cost ofproduction of womens footwear.

The heel and the method of constructing it, which are the subject of myinvention and which are capable of use in the production of footwear formen and children, as well as women, are described in thefollowingspecication, which may be better understood with reference tothe accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a pattern oroutline bodiment of my invention adapted for use as a combined midsoleand heel.

Referring to thedrawing, which is for illustrative purposes only, thenumeral II indicates a sheet of fibrous material; this fibrous materialmay be woven or structureless, such as matted and compressed felt. Thesheet II is out with downwardly diverging side boundaries I2 and I3,

of a sheet of material which may be employed plastic in the goods.

it is cut to the outline illustrated in Fig. 1, shall be impregnatedwith a plastic in discrete form or discontinuous phase as contrastedwith a continuous phase. The plastic may be associated with the sheet Ilin a Variety of ways. Thus a dope may be prepared, including, forexample,

cellulose acetate and a plasticizer, such as camphor or tricresylphosphate, and a material to provide greater rigidity, such as gypsum,or calcium tartrate, or ammonium phosphate, in a solvent, preferablymiscible with water, such as acetone or a mixture ofacetone and alcohol.The sheet II may be thoroughly impregnated with such a dope and thenwithout drying passed through a bath of a character to precipitate theWater isla suitable bath if there is used the dope previously described.In such a bath the plastic is in such condition that, when the vfibroussheet II is withdrawn from'the bath and dried, it is soft and pliable.Pyroxylin or cellulose nitrate may be employed instead of celluloseacetate. Fire retardants and iillers `other than gypsum, calciumtartrate, and ammonium phosphate may be employed.

"-The impregnation of the sheet of material II may also-be accomplished,if desired, by emulsifying a dope,such as'described, in water andsaturating the fabric sheet I I in such emulsion. kParticles of plastic,for example, a mixture of cellulose acetate and camphor in solid form,may be mixed in the fibrous sheet I I during itsweaving or thecompression and matting process, so that these particles arepositionedin orion the fibrous material and entangled and interlockedwith the fibres thereof. Likewise the plastic in such particle form maybe' sprayed upon one or both surfacesYof-thev-iibrous `sheet II so thatAit adheres thereto 'and -is impregnated therein.

flexibility of the fibrous material and which, when the fibrous materialbearing it is wet with a solvent sufficient to render the materialflaccid, gives to the fibrous material, upon evaporation of the Ysolvent, stiffness and rigidity.

The particles of plastic may be also associated with the brous sheet I Iby securing to either or both sides thereof another sheet to hold theplasticV particles in contact with the fibrous sheet as well as byprecipitating or mixing, orY spraying or applying the plastic inparticle or other form in and upon thefibrous sheet, and I describe allsuch means of vassociation of the plastic with the fibrous sheet toprovide the pliability requisite to forming the sheet as impregnation.

The fibrous sheet II, thus impregnated with plastic, is placed around amold or form I8 which may be conveniently formed of Wood with a shape inwhich it is desired to form the finished heel. The fibrous sheet I I hasbeen cut so that when it is applied to theY form I8, the side boundariesI2 and I3 abut as indicated by the line. I9 upon the breast surface ofthe heel. The lower portion of the brous sheet II` is folded upon thebottom of the form I8/to form an inwardly directed flange 2G, the edgesof each triangular notch II meeting so that the flange 20 isuninterrupted, and the portions of the sheet II forming such flange donot overlap each other. The sheet II is held,

in this position in any suitable manner as by tacking through the sheetonto the form I8 adjacent the line I9 and tacking through the flange 2ininto the form I8,.and the form with the sheet II attached thereto isthen immersed in a suitable solvent. The solvent may be of any suitabletype Vfor imparting flaccidity to the fibrous material and causing theplastic to become rigid and stiff throughout the fibrous material uponthe evaporation thereof. For example, if cellulose acetate is employed,a solvent of acetone or acetone and alcohol is suitable. Gypsum as afire retardant and filler is advantageously employed in the dope,

since it is insoluble therein. The immersion ofV lI8 is removedtherefrom. If it is desired to reenforce the heel member, narrow stripsof the sameV material employed inthe sheet I I may be secured to theinner surface `of the rigid hollow shell indicated by the numeral V2I ofFig, 3 after the removal ofthe formr I 8. Such a reenforcing strip Vmaybe placed uponvthe breast surface of the Y shell 2I over the line I9, asndicatedby the dotted lines 22 of Fig. 3, Q1' Vvertically in therearward astaooi portion of the shell 2I, as indicated by the dottedlines 23 of the same figure,ror vertically within the side portions ofthe shell 2I, as indicated by the dotted lines 24; If required, suchreenforcing strips may :be placed on all of the surfaces indicated. Inassembling such reenforcing strips, they are immersed in a solvent bath,such as previously described, and pressed against the inner surface ofthe hollow shell 2I in the desired position. The strips adhere to thehollow shell 2| and add to the rigidity thereof upon drying. Y

To provide means for attaching the shell 2I to a lasted upper andinsole, the upper portion of the fibrous sheet I I is turned inwardly toform an upper flange 25. The sides of each of the triangular openings IBabut each other, thus providing a continuous flange of la singlethickness of the sheet I I. If this upper portion of the sheet II vsolvent to cause it to become flaccid and deformable to the desiredshape. l

A heel lift 26 of wear-resistingmaterial, such as leather, is secured'tothe lower flange 20 of the shell 2I. This attachment may be accomplishedby tacks extending through the heel lift 2'6 and into the ange 20 or bythe application of a suitable adhesive therebetween. The completed heelmember is then ready for attachment to a lasted upper and insole eitherby tacks passing downwardly through the insole into the flange 25 orbythe application of a suitable cement between the flange 25 and thelasted upper and insole.

Instead of extending the reenforcing strips substantially vertically,asv indicated by the numerals 22 to 24, a single reenforcing strip, suchas indicated by the numeral 2'I of Fig. 4,.may be secured to the innerwall of the Vshell 2I so that it extends spirally therein. ,The methodof securing the reenforcing strip 2IV inposition is the same as thatemployed for securing the reenforcing strips 22 to 24 previouslydescribed.V

Likewise, if desired, a `reenforcing strip or plate 28 of the samematerial as the fibrous sheet II may be installed in a similar manner sothat it connects the inner surface of the lower extremity of a wallportion of the shell 2I with the inner Surface of the upper extremity ofan opposite wall portion of the Vshell member as illustrated n Fig. 5.

Another form of reenforcing means is illustrated in Fig. 6,4in which thenumeral 29 indicates a plate formed of the same material as the fibroussheet II secured in the manner previously described to the lower end ofthe shell 2I.V An upper plate 30 similarly secured to the upper end ofthe shell 2I may be employed either alone or with the lower plate 29.The plates 29 and 30 serve to both reenforce the shell 2I againstVdistortion and provide additional area for securing the heel lift 26andV the lastedupper and insole respectively to the shell 2 I; The sameeffect may be secured by forming the fibroussheet II of greater verticaldimension so that-when the portions thereof Vbetween Vthe triangularnotches IB or I1 Yare folded towards each other, they comv Yplement eachother vinl entirely covering the ends of the shell V,2

I, as illustrated by .the numeral 3| 0fFg.4. Y

Referring to Fig. 7the numeral 32 indicates an upper, thejlower edgesoffwhich are pulled around and secured to the lower surface of an insolemember 33. There is thus formed on the lower surface of the insolemember 33 a depending flange 34 of a thickness equal to the thickness ofthe upper. To facilitate the firm attachment of a heel shell 2|, havingupon its upper end an inwardly directed flange 25, such a flange may beformed with a downwardly offset or lift portion 35 to receive thedepending flange 34. By such provision the flange of the shell 2| bearsagainst and may be secured to both the inturned edge of the upper at theflange 34 and the lower surface of the insole 33 inwardly thereof.

. If it is desired to provide additional rigidity to the shell 2|, thismay be accomplished by the provision of a post 36 secured to the heellift 26 as by nails 31 and attached to the insole 33 as by a screw 38,the top of which is covered and cushioned by a slip sole or lining 38.

Resistance to horizontal as well as vertical deformation may be providedby the use of a vertical post, such as indicated by the numeral 4|) ofFig. 8, which is secured to a reenforcing member 4|, filling the lowerpart of the shell 2| and to a reenforcing member 42 filling the upperpart of the shell 2|. The posts 36 and 40 and the reenforcing members 4|and 42 may conveniently be made of wood. The lasted upper 32 and insole33 and the top lift 26 may be conveniently secured to the upper andlower reenforcing members 4| and 42 respectively. Further, the provisionof the lower reenforcing member 4| with its lower surface flush with thelower surface of the shell 2|, protects the shell 2| as the heel lift 26is worn away.

Referring to Fig. 9, there is illustrated a foot supporting element ormember 43 which is interposed between a lasted upper 44 and an insolemember 45, and a wear resistingA outsole member 46. The foot supportingmember 43 may be formed of brous material impregnated with a plasticsuch as the fibrous sheet Il or of material which is accid or pliablewith a plastic or plastic forming ingredients, such as previouslydescribed, positioned therein or thereon, either before or after it ismolded upon a suitable form.

As in the embodiments previously described, the flaccid material may bepositioned or tensioned upon a form with its lower portion turnedinwardly upon the form to provide a lower flange 41. After the materialhas been stiiened by the deposition of the plastic therein, the form andthe foot supporting member 43 are separated, and an upper flange 48 isformed thereon. If the upper portion of the foot supporting member 43has become stiffened with the remainder thereof, this upper portion isagain rendered flaccid, as previously described, thus permitting theformation of the substantially horizontal flange 48 and its subsequentstiiening by deposition of the plastic therein in a continuous phase.

The flanges 4'! and 48, like the similar flanges in the embodimentspreviously described, may be made either continuous, extendingcompletely around the periphery 'of the Vertical walls from which theyproject, or in the form of tongues or arms as may be desired. Likewisethe fibrous material of which the foot supporting element 43 is formed,like the heel constructions previously described, may be covered with afabric or a coating, either before or after the material is formed intothe desired shape, concealing the fibrous material and any plasticdeposited upon its surface and enhancing the decorative effect of thefootwear. A pleasing effect can be secured also by embodying a pigmentin the fibrous material of which the heel or foot supporting element isformed or weaving, dyeing, or coloring in any suitable manner a fabricto be employed as the fibrous material or by depositing upon theexterior surface of the brous material a layer of the plastic, coloredor uncolored, simultaneously with, or subsequent to, or in lieu of thedeposilion of the plastic relied upon to stiffen the brous material.

The method and heel construction of my-invention has great utility insuch differing fields as orthopedic footwear, womens style footwear inwhich the heel constructions may be provided with notches or openingscovered, if desired. with a decorative or transparent material, andinfants footwear, in which a device producing sound when the shoe ismoved, may be installed in the hollow heel or intermediate foot supportving member 43 of Fig. 9.

With regard to all the heel constructions and foot supporting elementsof my invention, it will be seen that, since they are shaped in hollowform and of comparatively thin light-weight material, I have by myinvention provided foot supporting elements adapted for insertionbetween a lasted upper and outsole which are substantially lighter thanprior constructions.

Further, since the method of my invention requires only the securing ofa pliable sheet of material to a form and the deposition therein of astiffening plastic which may be carried by the material, I have by myinvention provided a method of forming heels and foot supportingelements for shoes which can be performed without the use of expensiveor intricate machinery and which can be performed by unskilled workmen.Likewise, since the foot supporting elements of my invention may bequickly formed as needed, my invention eliminates the necessity ofmaintenance of large stocks of heels by manufacturers.

While those embodiments of my invention hereinbefore illustrated anddescribed perform all the objects and provide all of the advantageprimarily stated, it will be understood that there are various otherembodiments likewise capable of performing these objects and providingthese advantages and coming within the scope of my invention which aredefined by the claims that follow.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a heel construction for a shoe, the combination of: a hollow shellof fabric impregnated with a rigid plastic; a first rigid reenforcingmember within said shell and adjacent its upper end; a second rigidreenforcing member within said shell and adjacent its lower end; and athird rigid reenforcing member within said shell and connected to saidfirst and second reenforcing members.

2. In a heel construction for a shoe, the combination of: a hollow shellof fibrous material impregnated with a rigid plastic; a first rigidreinforcing member secured within said shell and substantially closingits upper end; a second rigid reinforcing member secured within saidshell and substantially closing its lower end; and a third rigidreinforcing member within said shell and connected to said first andsecond renforcing members.

BAYARD RYDER.

